Tight Senate Vote Expected on Gun Background Checks

By

Kristina Peterson And

Janet Hook

Updated April 15, 2013 10:27 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON—The authors of a bipartisan agreement to expand background checks for gun buyers hope a set of provisions embedded in the deal will win over gun-rights advocates, as the measure appears headed for a tight Senate vote.

In their agreement to broaden background checks to all online and gun-show sales, Sens. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) included provisions making it easier for some people to buy and transport firearms in an effort to sell the bipartisan deal to skeptics. The provisions bolstered...